Where Was the Outrage?

Yesterday, Salon published an article on the shock of Pentagon officials from the WaPo series on Walter Reed's deplorable conditions.

They shouldn't have been so surprised. In early 2005, Salon brought to the attention of Walter Reed officials disturbing information based on interviews, medical records and other Army documents which showed that soldiers receiving outpatient treatment for mental wounds were suffering from a shocking pattern of neglect. At that time, Walter Reed officials refused to discuss Salon's findings. Instead, they issued a statement saying it just wasn't so: "We are satisfied that there is a very high level of patient satisfaction with their treatment," the statement read.

In early 2006, Salon alerted Army and Walter Reed officials to a very similar set of concerns: Some soldiers with traumatic brain injuries were not being screened, identified or treated. They were falling through the cracks. The Army and the hospital declined to talk with Salon about those issues, this time citing privacy concerns of patients. "I cannot arrange an interview," Lt. Col. Kevin V. Arata, an Army public affairs officer, wrote in an e-mail. In a separate written statement to Salon, Walter Reed said it had a good program to take care of brain injuries.

So, I'm wondering, where was the outrage then? Did the officials at Walter Reed do anything, and why did conditions return to what they are today (when the WaPo articles were released)? Why does it take articles like these to get anything done?

What did the Congresscritters do then? Obviously, not a hell of a lot, and that should say something as these past charges by Salon occurred during the republican control. Why weren't there any changes? And why are officials in the Bush administration to the Pentagon so shocked, if they already knew of the deplorable conditions?